A woman holds a portrait of former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in front of her face as she stands in front of the US embassy during a protest in Berlin. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

12.55pm GMT

David Cameron has challenged the Chinese leadership to do more to open up on the highly sensitive area of cyber-security amid fears in the EU and the US that Beijing is responsible for the world's most aggressive online attacks, reported Nicholas Watt in Shanghai on Wednesday. The British prime minister said:

I think that a proper cyber-dialogue between countries is necessary and I have raised this with the Chinese leadership – that we need to properly discuss these issues. It is an issue of mutual concern and one that we should be discussing.

As the Independent notes:

Before Edward Snowden's NSA revelations changed the global focus of cyber security, there was widespread concern over the motives of Chinese security firms, amid suggestions that Britain and the US could be susceptible to attack ... The Snowden revelations have, however, shifted much of the focus. In June the former CIA security contractor told a Chinese newspaper that the US has been hacking computers in China and Hong Kong for the last four years.

12.51pm GMT

Barack Obama is not allowed to use an iPhone because his security advisers have claimed it is not secure enough, reports Samuel Gibbs.

Obama famously became the first president in US history to use email and battled with the NSA in 2009 to allow him to keep a BlackBerry, a fight he eventually won although it is allegedly restricted to communicating with just 10 people.

Apple’s iPhone has yet to be certified as secure for government and military use by White House staff, meaning that the president and his staff are restricted from using Apple’s smartphone.

9.57am GMT

Welcome to our hub for all Edward Snowden, NSA and GCHQ-related developments around the world. As arguments rage over how much of our day to day life should be monitored in the name of security, we'll be tracking the growing global debate about privacy in the digital age. We'd like to know what you think about the whole NSA story, what you're worried about – and any new areas you'd like to read more about.

• A fiery and divisive Australian Senate debate on Wednesday night about the central policy questions raised by the leaks of intelligence material by Edward Snowden repeatedly referred to a bipartisan committee report which has already recommended domestic intelligence oversight be strengthened, Lenore Taylor reports.

• Australia and Indonesia have agreed to set up a hotline to help avoid future diplomatic disputes after talks in Jakarta between Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa.

• Sweden has been a key partner for the United States in spying on Russia and its leadership, Swedish television said on Thursday, citing leaked documents from the US National Security Agency. Reuters reports:

Swedish television cited a document dated April 18 this year saying Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), which conducts electronic communications surveillance, had helped in providing the United States with information on Russia.

"The FRA provided NSA ... a unique collection on high-priority Russian targets, such as leadership, internal politics," it quoted the document saying.

The FRA declined to comment on the matter.

"We do in general have international cooperation with a number of countries, which is supported in Swedish legislation, but we do not comment on which ones we cooperate with," Anni Bolenius, head of communications at the FRA said.

In a separate document, high level NSA employees were told to "thank Sweden for its continued work on the Russian target, and underscore the primary role that FRA plays as a leading partner to work the Russian target, including Russian leadership and counterintelligence."

Previously, Sweden's FRA has said only that it cooperates with foreign intelligence services, but that all activities are strictly controlled by Swedish law.

Swedish television said it had obtained the documents from Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who brought the Snowden leaks to world attention.